“Herstory” versus “history”: A motherist rememory in Akachi Ezeigbo’s The Last of the Strong Ones and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun

摘要

This paper presents the counter-historical narratives in Ezeigbo’s The Last of the Strong Ones and Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun , which are set against the more traditional and authoritative narratives in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty , respectively. The paper is based on the assumption that most male writers entrench, while most female authors write to debunk, patriarchy; hence the subtle differences noted in the depiction of historical events and gender-related issues in the works of most male and female writers. Deploying Annette Kolodny’s concept, “herstory”, which is the female version of history, this paper examines how female writers such as Ezeigbo and Adichie have attempted a re-writing of the woman’s story within the larger context of significant historical events. The paper’s theoretical bases are found in New Historicism and Motherism, with Toni Morrison’s “rememory” serving as a critical narrative strategy for a systematic recollection and critique of opposing gender discourses. The analysis of the primary texts gives interesting insights into the far reaching contributions made by African women to the growth and sustenance of their communities at every point in the evolution of the African society, as against what the privileged and authoritative male narratives would have them believe. Such invaluable contributions include partnering with men to resist colonialism and its influences, attempting a documentation of their community’s history to guard against distortion by the colonial agents and working to support their family economically, among others. The paper underscores the need for the female’s version of history to be recorded and critiqued for a more balanced discourse in life and in art.